Study recommends $453M LA River restoration

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal study recommends spending $453 million to restore part of the concrete-line Los Angeles River to nature — but critics say it doesn’t go far enough.

The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday unveiled four options for restoring an 11-mile stretch of the river, a flood control channel that runs from the San Fernando Valley to the ocean in Long Beach. The options ranged in cost from $375 million to more than $1 billion.

The agency recommended an option that would strip the concrete from 588 acres of river between Griffith Park and downtown Los Angeles. It’s one of the cheaper options.

Advocacy groups say it’s not enough and they’ll push for broader rehabilitation of the 51-mile-long channel. The LA City Council also backs a more extensive option.